Behind the Cookbook: How to Bake by Nick Malgieri

American pastry chef Nick Malgieri’s book, How to Bake: Complete Guide to Perfect Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Tarts, Breads, Pizzas, Muffins won a James Beard Foundation award when first published in 1995. We are pleased to add the updated Dover edition of this classic title to ckbk, where it joins an extensive bookshelf of Malgieri’s titles. In the Q & A below, republished and updated with permission, Nick tells Eat Your Books’ Jenny Hartin about the background to this classic cookbook.

How to Bake shares scores of mouth-watering recipes for plain and fancy cakes; breads, biscuits, muffins, and scones; sweet and savory pies and tarts; brownies, macaroons, rugelach, and all manner of cookies. In addition to his clear, detailed instructions, Malgieri offers helpful tips for variations on classic recipes as well as suggestions for everything from making a pastry bag to mastering cake and pie toppings. Presented in order from the simplest to most complex, these recipes from the collection of a great pastry chef will add a whole new level of sophistication to your kitchen repertoire.

Q. If I have counted correctly, you have, yourself, authored over a dozen cookbooks. And now How to Bake is being reissued by Dover which is exciting. Of all your titles, why How to Bake? Is the reissue updated? Anything new?

A. How to Bake was my first book with Harper’s that was my “home” for almost 15 years. I spent a long time developing and new recipes and tweaking old ones over a couple of years. When it comes time to make pies for Thanksgiving or cookies for Christmas I still consult some of those recipes as they were and have remained favorites.

The whole manuscript was revised and updated, especially in the areas of ingredients, equipment, sources for ingredients and most of all many recipes. There have been many changes in the breads and an entirely new section on sourdough — both propagating and maintaining the starter and recipes for using it.

Q. Are there plans for other reprints?

A. I would love to bring back my chocolate book but it’s not as yet out of print. [We are hoping to be able to add Nick’s chocolate book to ckbk soon, but in the meantime check out ckbk’s Chocolate bookshelf]

Q. Which of your books is your favorite, if you could name a favorite? I have them all – and I would be hard pressed to name a favorite myself.

A.It’s hard to name a favorite but How to Bake was my first “big” book and It will always be special for me, but I love all my other “children” as much…

I just prepared questions for an interview I’m preparing for Rose Levy Beranbaum – and I want to ask you the same question – are you also a cook? Are there any plans for a savory title from you?

I LOVE to cook — Southern Italian dishes my grandmother and mother made, Turkish, Thai, you name it!

At this point in your career – do you bake for pleasure? And if you do what are your go to recipes?

I do all the time as I like to entertain and I always include a savory baked item – either an hors d’oeuvre, or focaccia or other bread, as well as a dessert. When I’m planning this kind of baking, I’m always taking off from one of my own recipes and taking it in a new direction.

What has been your biggest baking failure? Your biggest baking success?

For me, the two are linked. I remember I tried to adapt an Alice B. Toklas recipe for something called bird’s nest pudding and after a dozen tries I just gave up including it in the recipes for an article. Years later I looked at it again and I realized I had been using way too much flour in the mix. But there have been plenty of other stops along the way — a chocolate sour cream pound cake that took many tweaks before it became edible.

If you were to choose five baked desserts, everyone should know, what would they be? This is like the five dishes you should know how to make – roasted chicken, pasta carbonara, etc.

• A plain cake like a marble cake or pound cake

• A simple fruit pie or tart

• A couple of good cookies (chocolate chip included)

• A flourless chocolate mousse cake (into the oven in 10 minutes)

• Something savory like easy focaccia, breadsticks or cheese straws

Are you also a cookbook fan – do you have any favorites? How many in your collection?

When I lived in a relatively large Manhattan apartment I had 8,000 cookbooks with me. Four years ago I moved to Brooklyn and I sent 90 cartons of books to the rare book and manuscript library at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The catalog of about 3,000 is now available online: 

I’m thrilled that my collection resides with that of Esther B. Aresty, who had the finest collection of the 20th century, and that of my dear late friend Fritz Blank, for years the chef owner of the elegant Deux Cheminees in Philadelphia.

I kept about 1,000 favorites with me when I moved. [You can find a list of Nick’s all-time personal top 10 cookbook recommendations on his ckbk author profile page.]

What’s next for Nick Malgieri?

If you find out, let me know! Presently I’m talking with someone about contributing a baking and sweets section to a savory cookbook. I’d also love to do a book of my all-time favorite recipes.

About Nick Malgieri

Top recipes from How to Bake

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